1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and system for controlling automatic stopping of a vehicle, and in particular, to the apparatus and system for controlling vehicle acceleration when the vehicle is automatically stopped.
2. Related Art
This type of control apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3697904. This literature suggests that, in controlling the distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle to a desired distance, a brake actuator is operated, when a target value (target vehicle speed) of the travel speed (vehicle speed) becomes equal to or lower than a stop control starting speed, so that a predetermined braking force can be generated. Thus, possible delay in detecting the vehicle speed may not cause adverse effects on reliably stopping the vehicle at appropriate timing.
When a user manually drives a vehicle, the vehicle is typically operated to mitigate the shock in stopping the vehicle. Thus, in automatically stopping the vehicle as well, it is desired that the shock in stopping the vehicle is mitigated. However, with the conventional technique mentioned above, it is difficult to mitigate the shock caused in stopping a vehicle.